A Huge Success for the British Pound This Week

The good news starts early this week, and it continues to flow through as we learn more about the pound’s performance on the markets. Could it do well almost everywhere?

An overview of the currency markets for August 27th – August 31st, 2018

So, where would this week lead us on the currency markets? The opening couple of days looked promising for the British pound against the US dollar. It began trading on 1.2847, only to rise to 1.2913 by Tuesday night. While it dipped to 1.2883 on Wednesday, it didn’t lose all the ground it had made up to that point. Furthermore, a rise to 1.3026 the following day meant there was little to worry about. While Friday dipped to a closing rate of 1.2983 for the week, this was still markedly better than the opener had been.

The week was certainly a tale of two halves against the euro. As details for Brexit were thrashed out, the pound was put to the test against the single European currency. Starting on 1.1086, it had dropped to 1.1027 by Tuesday night. From then on, however, there was only one way to go. The pound improved day by day from Wednesday night onwards. By the time Friday arrived, it was sitting on 1.1143, a much better end to the week than we had thought there might be.

It’s the turn of the Hong Kong dollar now to try and knock back the British currency. But here too, the pound would come out on top this week. Starting on an exchange rate of 10.084, we had two strong days to open with, taking the pound to 10.136 by the time Tuesday evening arrived. A minor dip occurred midweek as the pound dropped to 10.113 to finish Wednesday’s trading. From then on, the pound continued to follow the pattern seen against the US dollar. That meant the pound achieved the best rate of 10.224 on Thursday, before falling to a still-impressive 10.190 to finish the week in better shape.

So, could we achieve another good rate against the New Zealand dollar too? This had been a good week thus far, and it turned out we would not be disappointed here either. Very much the opposite, in fact. Opening on 1.9272, the pound struggled over the first two days, ending Tuesday on 1.9236. However, there was better news from then on. The final three days of the week saw great improvements from the pound. So much so, it finished on 1.9566 on Friday night – nearly three cents up on the opener that week.

With lots of good news so far, it seemed likely we could achieve another good result against the Australian dollar. We did too, although the pound took a dip to start with, just as it had against the Kiwi dollar. It began trading on 1.7592 before falling to 1.7560 two days later. By Friday, though, all that had been turned around. We managed to end on 1.7973 – nearly four cents better off.

Notable events in the world of currency

Another good result against the Canadian dollar

There seemed to be no end to the positive news coming our way this week. The pound rose from 1.6788 to 1.6928 against the Canadian currency.

Finally, a drop against one currency – the Swiss franc

It had to happen sooner or later, didn’t it? The pound wasn’t quite a match for the Swiss currency this time around. Two good days and three not-so-good ones meant it dropped from 1.2636 to 1.2570. At least the losses were minimal.

Back to better news against the Icelandic krona

Here, we managed to get more good news to celebrate. The pound opened the week’s trading on 138.580 before rising to 138.956 by Friday night.

With such good news this week, it will be interesting to see whether it can be maintained for a second week. Would it be too much to hope for, or has the pound got some more strong performances still to come?